Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit

Written
by Paula Danziger Illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

Reviewed by Ashley Y. (age 9)

Amber Brown is having trouble in school and trouble at home. Her mother has a fiancÚ that she just does not want to meet, she misses her dad, she's not doing well in school, and she doesn't know what to do. She needs help. Amber Brown wants extra credit from her teacher because she is not doing well in her class. Her teacher tells her to do an extra credit project to show to the class. Amber decides to make brownies. She puts in all kinds of extra ingredients for the extra credit. She add some ingredients to her brownies that you never would think as an ingredient! She gives the brownies to her teacher and hopes for the best. Her mom makes her meet Max, her mom's fiancÚ, and it's just as bad as she thinks it will be. It's bad mostly because she misses her dad so much. Read this book to find out how Amber fixes her life.

I liked this book because its true that it is hard to make brownies and it is hard to earn extra credit. The writer makes the story very life-like. The pictures in the book are sketches, but they are fun to look at. I did not like the character Max very much because sometimes I think he is mean to Amber. Once when Amber was talking to her dad she got mad, hung up, and went upstairs to look at her daddy-daughter book. I felt frustrated at this part and know I was really into the book because of how it is written!

I would recommend this book to anyone who can relate to these issues, like having to work hard in school, earning extra credit, and having to deal with divorced parents. I think that kids who have to go through these issues would really be able to understand what Amber Brown is going through! There are funny parts in the book where I laughed and then parts of the book that I felt frustrated, just like real life. It's a really good book!